Missed Opportunities
by 4this
Summary: What if Winry missed the ball? What would happen then? A Cinderella-like story. Sorry, I suck at summaries, but please read. AU. Rated T because I can.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, lets do this! This is my first fanfic, so please be nice to me! This is a FMA high school AU ****_and_**** a Cinderella story… I don't know either. Please excuse all spelling/grammar mistakes, because I cannot spell for my life and I don't have a beta. This is Edwin, Royai, and Ling/Ran Fan. Please review! ~4this**

"Winry!" Lust called from the dining room. "Where's breakfast?"

"Coming!" Winry called. She was hurriedly taking waffles out of the humongous waffle iron, and putting two on each blue china plate. She adjusted the wrench in the back pocket of her sweatpants, and brought the food into the dining room.

Sitting around the large mahogany table was Winry's stepfamily, Lust, Rose, and Elicia. Rose had her bangs died pink, and the rest of her lush brown hair was down her back, perfectly smooth. Elicia was bouncing up and down in her chair. The four year old seemed to have just been dunked in caffeine. Her light brown hair was up in two pigtails. Elicia was the nicest to Winry; only having been one at the time Winry's father married Lust.

"Put the food down." Lust ordered. Winry placed the silver platter on the table and put a plate in front of every person.

"Thanks Winny!" Elicia said when Winry put the plate in front of her. "Cut it pwease?"

"Okay." Winry said with a quiet voice. She picked up the knife and fork and cut the waffle into little pieces.

Winry left her 'family', snagged a piece of toast from the kitchen, and returned to her room on the third floor, otherwise know as the attic. It wasn't a horrible room, just a bit cold. Winry munched on the toast and she pulled on jeans and a green tee. She pulled her wrench out of her sweatpants and put it in a leather sheath that attached to her belt. Winry never went anywhere without her wrench, and she used it daily, weather it be to hit someone in the head, or to open malfunctioning lockers.

Winry sat down at her desk, littered with bits of metal and screws, an automail hand rested in the left corner of it, propped against a small clock. Winry's dream was to become an automail mechanic like her grandmother. She grabbed the hand, and caught a glimpse of the clock. Seven fifty nine. She must have spaced out.

Winry yelped, put the hand down, and grabbed at her dresser for some socks. She found a pair, put them on, and picked up her sneakers. She slipped them on, grabbed her black backpack and a navy blue sweatshirt, and rushed downstairs.

_I'm gonna be late! I'm gonna be late!_ Winry thought as she headed to the front door. Her stepsisters didn't mind if she left, and Winry didn't feel like reminding them. Elicia didn't have to go to school till nine, and Rose had her own car. Winry ran down the driveway, away from the large Tudor style house, to the sidewalk. Winry jogged to the bus stop two blocks away, and once she got there, just caught the school bus as the last person was getting on.

"Whew." Winry sighed as she got on the bus.

"Winry!" someone called.

"Riza! Hey, Ran Fan!" Winry made her way to the mid-section of the bus, and sat down next to her best across the aisle from them. Riza had her hair in her normal clip, her bangs jutting sharply across her face. Ran Fan had her hair in a bun, and was wearing a black shirt and scarf. Ran Fan was Xingese, and had moved to Resembool when she was seven.

"Monday, not the best day of the week, eh?" Riza sighed, leaning against the cheap faux leather seat.

Ran Fan shook her head, and Winry said "Nope."

The bus made two more stops before it reached the school. Resembool Royal High School, the best high school in the kingdom of Resembool. Also, the two princes went there. Prince Edward, who was a junior like Winry. Prince Alphonse was a sophomore. Winry got off the bus, and walked to the large building, built out of yellow bricks. The three friends walked without talking much to their first period class, history. Their classroom was on the second floor, with a view of the sport's fields. RRHS had a baseball team, a football team, a soccer team, a track team, and a basketball team. There were also martial arts and fencing. After all, what do you expect from the best?

Winry sat down in the third row, Riza and Ran Fan to the right of her. Winry surveyed the room; Mr. Armstrong hadn't come yet, Roy Mustang and his friends Maes Hughes and Jean Havoc where talking to Ling Yao, and next to them was none other than Edward Elric kissing _Rose_. They had been dating for a little under a year, but whenever Winry saw them, a knot formed in her stomach. A few others were scattered around the room, but no one very important.

Despite her annoyance at the sight of Rose and Ed making out, Winry's eyes fell back on them. Ed had his long blonde hair, a shade darker and oranger than Winry's, in it's usual braid. His eyes were closed, but everyone knew of the prince's rare golden eyes. And he was a bit on the short side, though no one bothered him about it. Once a few people are sent to the hospital, others get the message. Winry let out an exasperated sigh and turned to the window. She hated seeing this, couldn't they do it in private?

Mr. Armstrong walked in, and conversation quieted down; they all knew what would happen if they didn't.

"Hello, Class! Today I will teach you a part of history passed down in the Armstrong family for generations!" Mr. Armstrong boomed.

~~~\/\/\/~~~

Winry sat at a lunchroom table, waiting for Riza and Ran Fan to arrive. She spotted them across the room, getting lunch, but Rose cut off her view of them.

"Winry!" Rose said in her sweet voice. "I need you to pick up Elicia after school. I'm going to Edward's."

"Okay." Winry said.

"And get groceries. Mom's not coming home tonight, so you're cooking."

"Like I wouldn't if she was?" Winry said sarcastically.

"What was that? You are going to _pay_ for that!" Rose stalked off.

Winry huffed, and let out an airy laugh.

"Hey. What was that about?" Ran Fan asked, sitting down. She was a quiet, caring girl, and not really close to anyone, but she cared.

"My evil stepsister is dumping everything on me. Again. To go see her boyfriend. And then she's not going to let me have dinner." Winry sighed.

"Again?" Riza slid in next to Winry.

"Mm." Winry scowled.

Winry munched on an apple, waiting for her friends to finish.

"Take something to eat if you don't get diner." Ran Fan said.

"I will, thanks."

~~~\/\/\/~~~

"Winny!"

"Hey, Elicia." Winry sighed. The little pigtailed girl skipped down the steps with a few friends.

"Why isn't Rose or Mommy picking me up?" Elicia asked.

"Rose and Lu- Mom have things to do." Winry had never gotten used to calling Lust 'Mom', and only called her Mom in front of Elicia who would get confused otherwise. "C'mon. Let's go home."

Elicia babbled about her day at school as Winry walked home. "…and then I got the question right! Aren't you proud of me?"

"Very." Winry smiled for her cute little stepsister.

They got to the driveway and started walking up to the house. Winry paused when she saw Rose's silver mini cooper in the driveway. _That shouldn't be there. Unless…_ Winry opened the door to find Rose on the sofa with Edward practically eating her face. _Of course._

"Sis!" Elicia didn't realize what was going on, so she rushed into the living room. Winry rubbed her forehead and walked to the stairs. She could faintly hear Rose scolding Elicia downstairs as she reached her room. Winry put her bag on the bed and sat down at her desk. She fiddled with a box she had made a month or so ago that sprung open when you touched it, rather simple, but amusing. She was going to send it to Pinako, but Lust was forbidding any contact between the two. But before that happened, Pinako had sent a book with the basics of Automail and projects for leaning them. The spring box was one of them.

Winry put the box down, holding the lid so it wouldn't fly off, and pulled her math homework out of her bag.

"It's never gonna do itself." Winry said quietly and began to work.

**Yay! It's not long, but I had fun writing this. I will try to put up a new chapter soon, but I'm not the fastest at those kinds of things. Please review!**

**~4this**


	2. Chapter 2

**SO SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE FASTER! **

**I know that Resembool has mild winters, but I need it to be cold in the story. Winter is fun!**

**RockingCass12: I'm going to try really hard not to. I have a different direction for the plot.**

**Broccolio: It can be spelled both ways.**

**Jarl Balgruuf: He comes into play in this chapter. :)**

**Ru: I needed something, and I've never been the biggest fan of Rose.**

**Disclaimer: Sorry I forgot this in the last chapter. I DON'T OWN FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST! DON'T SUE ME! I only own and IOU for copies whole manga series ^.^**

Winry rubbed her hands together, the friction warming them as she walked to the mailbox. It was Saturday, and no one but herself was in the house, or would be for the rest of the weekend. There where upsides and downsides of her family not being there. The upside was she had the house to herself. The downside was she usually had to clean it from top to bottom. Winry opened the mailbox and pulled out a few bills, a postcard from a step aunt or someone, the usual things you find in the mail. Pinako had kept her promise of no communication, sadly.

Winry held the mail close to herself so her hands wouldn't freeze. She walked hurriedly back to the house, opening and closing the door quickly so not the let cold air in. Placing the mail on the kitchen table, Winry looked at her lost of chores again. She had crossed out 'clean kitchen' and 'clean bathrooms', and all that remained was to change every linen in the house. That meant all of the pillows on the chairs and couches, every bed. Winry took a deep breath, and got to work.

First, she pulled all of the pillowcases off of the pillows in the living room. She placed them in a basket by the closet that held the washer and dryer, and grabbed a new set from the linen closet. They all had to match or it was no breakfast. (Lust had quickly learned that depriving Winry from food in the morning was worse that at night.) Winry slid the dark blue with floral embroidery in a metallic thread the same color onto the pillows, and lay one on each of the tan chairs, and on at either end of the couch.

After surveying her work, Winry hurried to the next floor, and made her way through the five bedrooms on the second floor. It took a mere thirty-seven minutes to finish, record breaking time.

Winry's phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket. It was Riza, and Winry picked up.

"Hey, Riza." Winry said as she brought the phone to her ear.

"Hi, Winry. How ya doing?" Riza said.

"Fine, finished with the chores."

"Good. There's a new café a few blocks away from me and Ran Fan and I are going to scope it out. Want to come?"

"Sure. Where is it?" Winry said, looking around for a pen to write down the address.

"263 Wren Street. It's a long walk from your place, do you want me to pick you up?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." Winry stopped looking for the pen.

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Bye."

"Bye." Winry hung up and hurried upstairs to change out of her loose grey shirt and into something a bit more presentable. She chose a blue and white striped long sleeved shirt before going back downstairs. The doorbell rang, and Winry opened it to see Riza, and behind her, her smallish grey car.

"Ready?" Riza said.

Winry nodded and went to the car. She said hello to Ran Fan and got in the back seat.

"Let's go." Winry smiled.

~~~\/\/\/~~~

"Brother! Get up!" Al called from the hallway to his brother who was still sleeping.

"Fimuhminu!" (Translation: Five more minutes!) Ed groaned and rolled over in his bed.

"No! I already gave you time to sleep! C'mon, Dad's gonna be here in half an hour!" Al opened the door and got a pillow to his face.

"Why do I have to get up for that bastard?"

"Well, if you aren't going to get up for Dad, get up for the king!"

"Same person!"

"Just get up already!" Al rubbed his forehead. "I can't believe I'm younger than you." He murmured.

"Was that about my height?"

"No, brother." Al said, his voice wavering at what would come next, but Ed just rolled over and groaned again. "Just be downstairs in five minutes." Al closed the door and headed to the palace dining room.

Ed heaved himself out of bed, rubbing his shoulder. He walked to his dresser and pulled out some clothes before heading to the bathroom for a shower. He emerged fifteen minutes later, his long hair dripping down his back. Ed pulled on some jeans and a black shirt. He slipped into a red sweatshirt, gloves, and headed down the marble steps whilst braiding his hair.

"Took you long enough, prince Edward." A voice said as Ed reached the foot of the stairs.

Ed stiffened at the voice. "Sorry, Ms. Armstrong."

Ed looked up the woman. Olivier Armstrong was the head guard of the palace. She had cruel eyes, though her light blonde hair covered one. Her nickname was 'the northern wall of Briggs', as she was stationed there during her time in the military. She was a powerful person, and very scary. "Hurry up. Alphonse is waiting for you, and the king will be arriving any second."

"Yes, Ma'am." Ed continued walking to the dining room. He arrived in the large room just as one of the servants was hurrying in through the opposite door.

"The king will be arriving soon!" the servant said.

"Yeah, yeah! I know!" Ed said, sitting down across from Al.

"Well, at least you made it here." Al sighed.

"_After_ I made it past Ms. Armstrong." There was a pause in the conversation.

"Is your girlfriend coming over today?"

"Naw. She's at a friend's house."

The large double doors opened, and a man came in. He was tall, with a square jaw, wearing glasses and a suit, and his hair was the same color as Ed's pulled back in a tail.

"Dad!" Al stood up and walked hastily to the king. "You're back!"

"Yes, Alphonse, but just for this meal. I have to get to Lior soon, but I thought I'd drop by and say hello." Hohenheim said.

"Thanks!" Al smiled.

Hohenheim and Al sat down, and all three blondes were served breakfast by some of the palace servants.

"So, Edward, I hear you have a girlfriend?" Hohenheim said causally.

"Yeah. Her name's Rose."

All three sat in silence. It had been almost six months since they had had a meal with just the family, and not with some visiting royals.

"Uh… I have homework to do." Ed excused himself and headed back to his room. Once there, he closed the door and lay down on his bed facing the ceiling, too alert to fall back asleep, and he _did_ have homework to do. Just as he was getting up to get his bag, he was interrupted by a knock.

"Come in." Ed said.

"Hey. I wanted to talk to you." Hohenheim stood in the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"Your sixteenth birthday is coming up, right?"

Ed nodded.

"As it has since the dawn of this kingdom, we need to throw a ball to find your wife."

Ed grimaced. He had always known this was coming, but he didn't want it. "Can't I find her on my own?" He asked, knowing the answer.

"Roughly ten people walk around the ball and pick out suitable women from this kingdom and the kingdoms surrounding it. Xingese, Amestrians, and the like." Hohenheim glanced at his watch. "I have to go. I don't want to miss the train to Lior. Bye."

"Bye."

Hohenheim left the room, and Ed could just here Al saying goodbye.

Ed pulled a folder from his bag and sat down to work, sighing.

**I meant to update much faster, sooo sorry. Stuff just sucks.**

**Read and Reveiw, Follow and Favorite.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I am ****_SOO_**** sorry about not uploading this earlier. I have no reason other than school. (Damn you school. I hate you. -_-)**

**THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS REVEIWED. YOU MAKE ME FEEL LOVED! *hands out cookies* Yes I know I'm late. Never expect me to update quickly. ****_EVER._**** Or write nice long chappies. This one's shorter than the rest... sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I have no rights to FMA, none of it belongs to me, I don't own it! (if it did, I would have messed it up a ton, and none of you would like it.)**

Winry rubbed her eyes as she stood in front of the sizzling pan of pancakes. It was Monday, and Winry wasn't exactly looking forward to telling her English teacher she didn't finish her essay on _Hamlet_. She went over a bunch of lame excuses for why she didn't have it, and decided none of them would work. Snapping back to reality, Winry flipped the pancakes just in time for them not to burn. After about ten minutes she had seven pancakes. She took one for herself, and put two on a plate for Lust, Rose, and Elicia.

She brought out the plates and set them down in front of Lust, Rose, and Elicia respectively. She cut up Elicia's food, and went back to the kitchen to eat and gulp down a cup of milk. Thus was the average morning of Winry Rockbell.

The doorbell rang, and Winry sprang up from the stool at the kitchen counter, and half ran to the door. She opened it to the mailman. The mailman handed her a few envelopes and a package for Lust.

"Thanks." Winry said, taking the mail.

"'Welcome." The mailman said, and Winry closed the door.

Winry looked at the envelopes on her way back to the kitchen. Each had the Resembool Royal crest on them, and there was one addressed to Rose, one for herself, and one addressed to Lust and Elicia.

Since the Royal crest was such a big deal, Winry gave the other members of her family the letters immediately.

"What's this?" Lust asked as Winry handed her her letter.

"No idea." Winry said. Rose opened her letter, and her eyes widened. Winry had retreated to the door to open hers. She leaned against the wall and opened the envelope.

The paper was thick and expensive looking, with the Resembool crest printed at the top, in metallic ink.

_Dear Ms. Winry Rockbell_

_You are herby invited to a Royal Ball, which is a large event, as it is the night a suitable bride will be chosen for Prince Edward Elric. This tradition has been kept for many centuries, and centuries before the Kingdom of Resembool gained it's freedom from Ametris. The Ball will be held on the seventeenth day of December, at the Royal Palace. The occasion is very formal, so dress accordingly._

_–Ms. Armstrong_

_Resembool_

_Just four days from today,_ Winry thought.

"Winry?" Lust said.

"Yes?"

"You can't go."

Winry was shocked. Why couldn't she go? "Why not?"

"Because I say so." Lust said. "We're hosting a party on the twentieth, and I need you to clean the house, put up the decorations, and get everything in place."

"That–" Winry stopped herself. _No use fighting a war you won't win_, she told herself. "Okay."

"Now hurry up, of you and Rose will be late." Lust turned back to the table. "They'll pick you, Rose, don't worry."

Winry went to her room to get ready. Tears itched at her eyes, but she didn't let them fall, she wasn't that kind of girl. It had been like this since her father had died, Lust kept Winry at home during all of the events held. Though she knew she would never be chosen, Winry was disappointed in not being able to go. It would be fun to attend a ball, with all of the dancing and music and so many other people. She might have been able to meet someone to teach her more about automail! Winry pushed the negative thoughts out of her mind, and grabbed her bag.

~~~\/\/\/~~~

"Hey, Win." Riza said as Winry slumped down next to her at lunch. "What's up? You seem a little down?"

"Family." Winry said sullenly. Riza knew not to pry.

"Hey, guys." Ran Fan sat down across from Winry and Riza.

"Ran Fan!" A sing-song voice called from a few tables away. Ran Fan's eyes flashed sideways at the black-haired boy. Ling stood up and walked over to their table. "How are ya?"

"I'd be better if you would leave me alone. It's hard enough to be with you outside of school." Ran Fan said, a faint blush forming (along with irritation) on her face.

That comment brought questioning looks to Winry and Riza's faces.

"Aw… _Ran Fan_," Ling said with the tone of voice of a five year old that didn't get the toy he wanted.

"We have an agreement, Ling."

"_Ran Fan!_"

"No." Ran Fan said sternly.

At that point Winry and Riza were saved from watching a fight between the two as Roy, who flashed Riza a smile before turning away, pulled Ling back to his table.

"What was that about?" Winry asked.

"My family is… _affiliated_ with his." Ran Fan said, and quickly changed the subject. "Are you going to the ball?"

"Yeah. I hope someone asks me, though." Riza said. "Win?"

"No, actually." Winry looked at her lunch. "I have to much to do that night."

"Oh. That's bad. It would have been fun." Riza said. Winry nodded and glanced at the clock. She needed to get to the library fast if she was ever going to finish her math homework**.**

**Okay, that's it. Sorry it's not longer (again _school_). I'm also thinking about starting another fanfic, where the characters from FMA are put in the Hunger Games. It seems like a fun one to write, so I probably will.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm going to pick up the pace here, so bear with me. Also, I feel like I ****_cannot_**** write dialogue, so sorry about that too. This is a shorty!**

**No rights to be found here!**

The night of the ball had arrived. Rose was dressed in a beautiful knee length white dress with yellow trim, her makeup perfect, her hair piled on top of her head. Winry had to admit she looked beautiful. Elicia was in a cute pink dress. Lust was wearing a black dress with black gloves that went up to her upper arms.

"You all look great." Winry said as they left the house.

"We do, don't we?" Lust said, closing the door. "Don't forget to put the fancy candles in the bathroom."

"I won't." Winry said, though Lust couldn't hear her. Winry bit her lip, and walked away from the door. She went to the closet, and grabbed the mop, bucket, and a sponge. The marble entrance hall had to be sparkling by the time Lust got back, or Winry would be in trouble. She filled the bucket with water, and carried it up to the top of the stairs. She sat down, and began to scrub. She made it to the fifth step before she began to cry.

"Winry! Stop it!" She whipped away her tears. "You told yourself," she sniffled, "you wouldn't cry." She scrubbed harder. She reached the foot of the stairs and slumped to the ground.

_I guess no fairy godmother for me._

~~~\/\/\/~~~

"Hey, Edward!" Rose kissed Ed on the cheek.

"Hi, Rose." Ed smiled. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you! Are you enjoying yourself?" Rose asked.

The hall was filled with people, all dressed up. Ed himself was wearing a simple suit. The only think that made him stand out from the other men was that he had a gold band around his head, the prince's crown. It was very loud. A dance floor was almost empty, it still being the beginning of the night. "Yeah." Ed grinned.

"Hello, ladies." Roy Mustang greeted Riza and Ran Fan. He was wearing a navy blue suit. Ling was stuffing his face with food from the buffet.

"Hello, Roy. I'm surprised you came." Riza said coldly.

"Well, there's a lot of girls in mini-skirts here. Would I miss out on a chance like this?" Riza was glad she was wearing a full-length dress.

"Ran Fan!" Ling said, slinging an arm around her neck. "Can I have this dance?"

"No." Ran Fan shoved the black haired boy off of her.

"Riza! Ran Fan!" Rebecca called from the dance floor. "Come and dance!"

"Coming!" Riza called. "Bye." Riza and Ran Fan joined Rebecca, Sheska, and Maria. The music was a quick paced, and made for dancing.

Olivier walked among the groups of chattering friends. Her eyes were peeled for the perfect wife for the young prince. She was focused, and scary, at least to everyone around her. After all, this was a night that would affect the entire future of Resembool, the night a queen would be chosen. Palace guards, members of the upper class, and multiple dukes and ambassadors were roaming the party, too.

Olivier glanced at Edward and his girlfriend. Rose seemed nice enough, and she was smart and pretty, too. And to add another plus, Edward already loved her. She was _definitely_ one of the top choices.

Edward had lost Rose in the crowd a while ago. He had found himself a nice corner, and was sulking. _I'm only fift–sixteen, now! Why the hell is one of these girls going to become my _wife_? It's not fair!_ Ed leaned against the wall and heaved a sigh. If this was a normal birthday party, it would be really fun, but it was basically a find-your-wife party, and Ed didn't feel like any one of the women in the whole castle was right for him. He _did_ like Rose, a lot, actually, but he _did not _want to marry her.

"Brother!" Al had spotted the sulking prince. "C'mon, we're waiting for you on the dance floor!"

Ed sighed again. "Coming." Dancing was not one of his strong points, especially with a metal leg. Yes, Edward Elric, crowned prince of Resembool, had an automail leg and arm. Not many knew of it, but it was not a secret.

Ed stepped onto the dance floor and Rose grabbed him. "Let's dance, Edward!"

"Sure." Ed smiled and took her hand. The music was classical, but not altogether boring. Ed kept up a good pace and managed not to trip. There were many other couples dancing, and Ed saw some girls from his grade dancing.

"Ran Fan! Dance with me!" Ling was back.

"No."

"Please?"

"Leave her alone, okay?" Riza stepped in between them.

"Listen to her. She's a killer shot _and_ had a gun." Roy whispered to Ling. "But…" Roy raised his voice. "I'd _love_ a dance with her."

"No, sir." Riza said. Roy was in a stunned state of depression. _She called me 'sir'! Nooo!_

Ed laughed at the sight of his friends struggling to get dates. "Hey, it looks like I _am _the best, seeing as I'm also the only one who can get a girl!" He called to them.

"I'm going to _kill_ you, shorty!" Roy and Ling said in unison.

~~~\/\/\/~~~

"So, who did you think was the best?" Olivier stood in front of the others who had been put in the position of finding the prince a wife.

"Rose, the prince's girlfriend, seemed good. There was also a girl from Xing who had a very good resume."

"I thought Rose was the best."

And so continued the conversation.

"Well, it seems like all of us have agreed on one person. Rose Thomas it is!"

**Okay, that's done. The Xingese girl mentioned was not Ran Fan. Also! My FMA Hunger Games crossover is up, and can you ****_please_**** read it? Thanks! R&R!**

**~4this**


	5. Chapter 5

**Finally got this out. Picking up the pace, still… **

"They picked me! I'm going to be queen!" Rose was running around the house screaming like a five year old! "Yay! Oh! I'd better call Edward!"

Winry had locked herself in her room to avoid the pink and brown haired girl's freakishly girly antics. But Winry couldn't blame her. After all, she _was_ becoming a princess and then a queen. Who wouldn't be a little excited?

Winry was fixing the automail hand again; taking it apart and putting it back together. But, since it was maybe the twentieth time she had done it, she was bored. She put the hand down and pulled out a sheet of blank paper and a pencil. Designing automail was her second favorite pastime next to building it. She drew a few sleek guidelines, drew in the major cylinders and wires, the smaller details. She had a rough sketch at the end of two hours, and she was quite proud of it. Winry slid the paper into a folder of her other designs, and checked the clock. Eleven twenty three, time for bed. It was a Sunday, and Winry did not like falling asleep in class.

She changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. _Good night_.

~~~\/\/\/~~~

"Brother! Let me in!" Al was banging on Ed's door, which Ed had locked in protest of, well, everything. "Unlock this door right now! Come _on_, Ed. You're acting like a five year old!"

"I don't care! At least _you_ don't have to have a WIFE CHOSEN FOR YOU!" Ed threw a pillow at the door.

"At least _you _don't have to worry about being rejected. Brother, unlock the door or I'm getting Ms. Armstrong." Al threatened.

"No is no. Leave me alone."

"Maybe if your temper didn't match your height, you could take this like a man!"

Ed stormed to the door and unlocked it. "What was that?" He said, his voice deadly calm.

"I called you short." Al said, looking down on his older brother.

"I amgoing to kill you, Al!" Ed launched a punch at Al. Al blocked and kicked Ed in the stomach. Ed grabbed Al's arm and flipped him over his shoulder. Al landed on his feet, but staggered a bit. Something clicked in Ed's automail arm, but he ignored it.

"That move's new! Did Teacher teach you that?" Al was amazed at his brother's strength to flip him.

"Yeah. Now leave me alone." Ed stalked back into his room.

"Hey! At least eat something!" Al's pleads were met by silence.

Ed lay on his bed, looking at the ceiling. Eventually Al left him alone. It was a Tuesday night, and Ed hadn't gone to school that week. He had seen Rose, though, when she came to see him the day after she was notified about her engagement. Ed had _tried_ very hard to stay happy and up beat, but he still ended the night with a yelling match against Al. All Ed wanted was to get out of this mess. _Oh the poor, poor lives of the rich. Or royalty._ Ed laughed at himself before deciding he'd better get to bed.

~~~\/\/\/~~~

It was lunch, and Winry walked through the halls of the school, making her way to her science classroom. She had left her coat in the classroom, and was hoping not to have lost it completely. Not many people were in the hallway; a few people were sitting on the floor doing homework and such.

Winry turned the corner, and saw her classroom at the end of the hallway. She got to the door and paused, her hand on the doorknob. Someone was in the room, heating something over a Bunsen burner. Ed, the someone, was recording data onto a piece of paper. He put down his pencil and picked up the flask onto of the ring stand with a gloved hand. Winry watched in silence as the rest unfolded. Ed's arm seemed to collapse, and he dropped the flask. It shattered on the table, and he cursed violently, turning of the Bunsen burner. The blonde boy looked panicked, still cursing.

"Are you okay?" Winry said, opening the door, and rushing over to the prince. "What happened?"

Golden eyes met Winry's blue ones, and Winry's breath seized in her throat. "I'm… I think I'm fine." Ed said. "I'm gonna need to clean this up, though." Ed motioned with his left arm. His right stayed limp at his side.

"What happened to your arm?" Winry asked.

"Uh… something must have broken."

"Can I see?"

Ed looked down a bit, then said: "Sure."

Winry picked up his arm, and rolled up the sleeve. "Woah. This is…" Winry could see how nice the automail was, but it was badly beat up. There were several small dents and one of the fingers seemed a bit off-kilter. She wasn't totally surprised that Ed had automail, she had seen his hand a few times, but she had no idea about the condition of it. "Can I fix this?"

Ed looked taken aback. "Fix it? What?"

"I'm an automail engineer in training." Winry explained quickly. "Give me your arm, and I can have it fixed in a day. And you might want to get a new one; this model's a good one, but it's old."

"Okay…?" Ed said apprehensively. "But I can't walk around without an arm, uh… Winry, right?"

"Yeah." Winry smiled. Ed had remembered her name! She felt a slight blush rising in her cheeks. "Why don't you give it to me after school?"

"Sure." Ed relized the mess they were standing. "Do you wanna help me clean this up?"

"Sure." Winry said, grabbing the the glass handling stuff the teachers kept in the classroom.

The two teens cleaned in almost silence. Ed was having trouble with only the use of one arm, and as his arm swung, hitting the chairs with a metal clang, he blushed. Eventually, the silence became awkward, and Ed decided to start a conversation.

"Rose's your sister right?"

Winry nodded. "My step-sister."

"Oh." His question had gotten him nowhere. "So, I'll come over to your house and give you my arm?"

"Sure. It'll probably be done in two or three hours." Winry said. "And I can start making a new arm right after. That should take a little over a week."

Ed nodded. The mess was cleaned, and Ed put away the Bunsen burner and ring stand.

"Okay, see you after school." Ed said.

"Okay. Bye." Winry said.

Edward left the classroom, and Winry stood for a few seconds, processing the events of the past ten minutes. She snapped out of her thoughts, grabbed her coat, and went to meet up with Riza and Ran Fan.

**YAY! This took a while to write. This is going to get more EdWin-y in the next chapter... ;)  
Also: New name!**


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